Drayton, Queensland

Drayton Toowoomba, Queensland
Population:	1,651(2006 census)[1]
Postcode:	4350
Coordinates:	27°36′00″S 151°54′22″E / 27.600°S 151.906°E / -27.600; 151.906Coordinates: 27°36′00″S 151°54′22″E / 27.600°S 151.906°E / -27.600; 151.906
Location:	6 km (4 mi) SSW of Toowoomba
LGA:	Toowoomba Region
State District:	Condamine
Federal Division:	Groom
Suburbs around Drayton: Glenvale Glenvale Harristown Glenvale Drayton Darling Heights Vale View Vale View Top Camp

Drayton is an outer southwestern suburb of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the Toowoomba Region.

The first substantial settlement on the Darling Downs in c.1842. The nearby township of Toowoomba expanded more rapidly than Drayton, and in the 1860s the centre of population shifted to Toowoomba, leaving Drayton as a southwestern suburb.

One of the oldest buildings in the Drayton area is the Royal Bull's Head Inn. The town also saw the area's first newspaper, the Darling Downs Gazette, in 1858. The National School (later Drayton State School) established in 1851, was one of the first in Queensland.

Drayton has a core of homes dating to the 19th century and a substantial number of homes and commercial premises dating from the mid years of the 20th century. More recently a large number of detached homes and growing numbers of multi-unit dwellings were built in the 1990s and 2000s, mostly targeted at students from the nearby University of Southern Queensland.

To the west of Drayton, the southern part of ANZAC Avenue forms the axis of a growing industrial and commercial district extending west and north towards Glenvale.

Politics

Drayton lies in the Toowoomba Region, a Local Government Area in Queensland. Toowoomba elects Councillors from the Region as a whole rather than from wards/districts, so there is no local representative as such.

The people of Drayton and surrounding areas are represented in the Commonwealth Parliament by Ian MacFarlane, Liberal Party member for Groom.

Royal Bull's Head Inn

• 1847-48: Inn first built; founded by William Horton, an English convict
• 1858: Currently extant brick and plastered timber structure substantially complete
• 1879: No longer in use as an inn, became a private home
• 1973: Purchased by the National Trust
• 1976: Ongoing restoration began

The building now serves as a show-case of life in the 1870s. Some rooms have been maintained in their original state.

References

1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Drayton (Toowoomba City) (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/LocationSearch?collection=Census&period=2006&areacode=SSC35831&producttype=QuickStats&breadcrumb=PL&action=401. Retrieved 11 October 2009. 

External links

• University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Drayton and Drayton Shire
• National Trust Queensland - Bulls Head Inn
• Bulls Head Inn Information on Drayton State School's webpage
• Drayton State School
• Toowoomba City Council - Bulls Head Inn